No4 rifle bedding

[CINDERS]

I agree with Bruce its more like finding a load that the rifle likes, there are those of us here that have spent countless hours at the range and serious $'s as consumable components are not cheap Sierra SMK 174gn projies are now over a $1/Aud each here now.
The modern projie has a better BC than the standard MkVII so will fly flatter so your sight settings will be higher for any given yards range and if you shoot allot of ranges then your going to have to throw a good deal of lead away to get the DOPE on all the conditions, windy days, hot days, overcaste days, early morning verses late arvo on and on it goes.
I did this over the course of a few years and have worked out the load and sight settings on my 4' & III's for each individual rifle I used in comp's which in some cases were winning combinations but it cost serious $'s given the amount of rounds put down range.

The only pill that came close to the MkVII was the Highland 174gn projie but we cannot get them here anymore 5 years ago I lucked onto 400 of them and snapped them up they are still here along with 300 of Malcolm Bones Tiapan 174Gn HPFB in .312".

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Alan de Enfield]

The only pill that came close to the MkVII was the Highland 174gn projie but we cannot get them here anymore 5 years ago I lucked onto 400 of them and snapped them up they are still here along with 300 of Malcolm Bones Tiapan 174Gn HPFB in .312".

I have found that the Prvi Partisan (PPU) 174g factory load is very close to MkVII, except that it seems to be a 'fraction' high and slightly to the left (sorta 10 O'clock ish) but once zeroed in is very close, and, importantly, is consistant.

In fact, I found I could not home-load to give any better performance that the factory.

[Strangely Brown]

I have found that the Prvi Partisan (PPU) 174g factory load is very close to MkVII, except that it seems to be a 'fraction' high and slightly to the left (sorta 10 O'clock ish) but once zeroed in is very close, and, importantly, is consistant.

In fact, I found I could not home-load to give any better performance that the factory.

Alan, I've come to a similar conclusion regarding the PPU bullet (rather than the factory load) after shooting a competition the other day at 600 yards; it's certainly made me question the use (and cost!) of the 174gr Sierra MK in my No.4 SR"b" rifle.

Whilst supplies of the PPU 174gr .311 bullet appear to be unaffected in the UK, I'm desperate to try the .308 150gr PPU bullet which I suspect has become a casualty of the ongoing war in Ukraine.